Advice on complete visa process time required - need to book flights immediately

My guy applied on line on Friday 2nd May and was given an appointment on the 27th.

That's outside that performance target.

In Minsk, Moscow, Ekatrinburg, Kiev, etc etc they uniformly being put through in less than a week.  Was your guy a blip?  Or is there an issue with LA that needs to be raised?

Or is there an issue with LA that needs to be raised?

That's why it's in advocacy!

 

Vicky

What's an indicative time frame people need to book biometrics in North America?

In a similar vein, I'd like to visit my family while waiting for my student visa to get processed this summer. Is it possible to do my application online and get biometrics done in Kansas City while at my Dad's even though I actually live in Boston? Even if I have to courier it to the consulate in NY, I didn't know if I could get the biometrics done anywhere or if it had to be in my home city.

I was hoping to do the family tour while it's processing instead of having to wait for all that and then go travel. I'm trying to get some overseas travel in as well (not to the UK) so will need my passport and want to get that booked for shortly after my visa is done just so I have my passport back.

If someone could confirm the following it would be most useful:

1. Can my future wife have her biometrics done anywhere, not just where the application is being made from?

2. Is the hold-up in LA affecting anywhere else (San Jose), and is there a phone number I can call to find out?

As stated in OP, I really need to book this flight a.s.a.p, so I would appreciate any advice on this matter.

Thankyou.

.

I was married to my Uk fiancee on April 13th in Texas.  (a Sunday).    We completed the online application on April 16th.  We were going to be traveling on our honeymoon and chose to have the biometrics done in Nashville TN (we were honeymooning in Sevierville).  To our surprise the earliest biometrics appointment was for April 25th (a Friday).  We used a courier and sent off our info on the same day.  The courier received the information on April 28th (Monday) and took it to the embassy on April 29th (Tuesday).  We received an answer that afternoon.  The courier sent the passports back and we received everything back on May 1st (Thursday).   We flew out that evening.
We went online and looked at prices of tickets prior to beginning the process.  We found that it was cheaper to go ahead and buy tickets and set the date outside of the time we hoped to travel. We paid 50 dollars to change the tickets once we were certain that the visa had gone through and we knew it was back on its way to us.  This ensured that we were on the same flight and were able to sit together.  Had we waited and booked the flights on the day we knew we were actuallly going to fly out the tickets would have been almost 600 dollars more.  Paying the extra 50 dollars to change was a much cheaper route to go.  Hope this helps.

Hi all:

I'm currently waiting for my visa from LA (second time around as I lived in London a few years ago) and found the biometrix requirement to be the biggest "potential" delay.  I'm in Las Vegas and there's only one testing center with appointments booked out about 10 days after my application was submitted (as you know, you can't book an appointment time until you submit the application).

HOWEVER, as I also have a time crunch issue I found that I was able to walk-in to the testing center and ask to be squeezed in.  I got in the same day after waiting around a bit... and being on my best behavior.  Try it if you can't wait the couple of weeks for the appointment time that they will assign to you.  I hope this helps.

Don't forget either that you will need a certified copy of your marriage certificate--not just the one that you will get at the wedding.  Meaning you will have to get the cooperation of your local registrar.  Mine was no problem (I got it Monday after a Saturday wedding by making special arrangements to deliver it myself to the county registrar), but some counties are more difficult.  Your DF may want to check to see what she needs to do to get the certified copy immediately.

Don't forget either that you will need a certified copy of your marriage certificate--not just the one that you will get at the wedding.  Meaning you will have to get the cooperation of your local registrar.  Mine was no problem (I got it Monday after a Saturday wedding by making special arrangements to deliver it myself to the county registrar), but some counties are more difficult.  Your DF may want to check to see what she needs to do to get the certified copy immediately.

Excellent point, Cadenza. I know in NYC they make no provision for picking up your marriage certificate in person, and tell you it will take a month to get it in the post. I had to rely on the help of our officiant, who had been through this process before, and basically barged in to City Hall the day after the ceremony and requested it on our behalf. Otherwise we would have not been able to get our visa the same week.

I know people on this board have been held up by not looking into this in the past, so it's definitely something you need to look into.

Maybe there's a delay because it's almost the summer holidays?

Must be...
The LA office has had my application and supporting documantation for 5 business days (according to the FedEx tracking info), and I just today got the first "we got your stuff" email from them.  So much for the 5 day turn around...

I can confirm huge delays for biometrics at the LA Consulate but according to them, those delays may have much to do with the actual biometrics collection sites as was the case in my home state of Oklahoma.  My appointment originally had a 3-week delay.  However, my UK fiance lodged a complaint using the Consulate's website and the LA Consulate called him within two days.  That agent was able to allot more appointments at my biometrics location in my home state, then she called me and told me to log back on right away and grab an earlier appointment.  I did so and was done in two more days - an improvement of just about 2 weeks.  She stated that this is a very busy time of year at the LA office but they are aware of and working on the problem.  And I just can't say how pleased I was to encounter someone so helpful and considerate (and that's all I'll say about that :-).  She even followed up to make sure I got a better appointment date.  As for the rest of the time frame, I just don't know.  They've had my package for one week as of tomorrow and I have heard nothing.  Good luck!